John Easthope and Sarah Taylorsubmitted by: Lori LaFranceIf you would like submit to the Family Histories please let
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John Easthope and Sarah Taylor were both born in Lancashire, England in 1835 and were also married there in 1856. Sarah gave birth to a son named Joseph in 1857, but he died at the age of 3. She had a girl named Mary in 1859 butshe only lived 3 days. Two more daughters - Martha (in 1862) and Harriet (in 1866) later joined their family.

After joining The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, John and Sarah emigrated from England to the United States via the ship "Emerald Isle" in June 1868 registered under the name "Easthrope". It was an unpleasant journey filled with sickness, death and terrible, harsh treatment by the sailors on board. After 7 weeks at sea, John, Sarah, Martha and Harriet arrived in New York harbor. They were quarantined for 3 days before they took a steamer up the Hudson River and eventually found shelter in a warehouse for a couple of days while their baggage was weighed. It appears that they changed their last name to "Easthope" upon arrival in the USA.

On August 17, 1868, the family resumed their journey by railway from New York and traveled via Niagara, Detroit and Chicago to Council Bluffs, where they arrived on the 21st. They were taken across the Missouri River by a steamboat and then traveled by the Union Pacific Railroad to Benton, Wyoming, arriving there on August 25th, 1868. Here the Church teams met the emigrants and took them to their camp on the Platte River, where they prepared to head west.

This must have been an extremely difficult period in their lives. Sarah was very pregnant as they continued the trip westward. They crossed the plains with the John G. Holman wagon company along with over 600 members of the church. She gave birth to a son (Robert) near Green River on Sept. 2 and Sarah almost died en route. Then six days later, their daughter Martha died. Another six days later, Harriet and newborn Robert died. By the time they reached Salt Lake City on September 25, 1868, they had lost all five of their children (Joseph, Mary, Martha, Harriet, and Robert).

After John and Sarah arrived in the valley, they were sealed at Endowment House in 1870. Four more children were born to them: Eliza, Sarah Ellen, Millie (Amelia) and John Taylor. John worked with the Union Pacific Rail Road and helped establish it in the Salt Lake valley. They joined his father (who had immigrated in 1866) in Bountiful, Utah.

In 1873, John married Sarah Ann Naylor (also from England) as a plural wife. It was said he had to hide one of his wives and children on many occasions because of the challenges of the times. Between the two wives he fathered 18 children altogether. He married a third wife, Harriet Taylor in 1878.

After several moves, (including 3 years in Juab, Utah, and later in Garden Creek, Idaho) John settled with his family in Mountain View, Alberta in 1898. His second wife and family remained in Bountiful, Utah.

Sarah Taylor was known to be a beautiful singer who sang in the Canadian (Alberta) Temple many times.

John Easthope died of Brights Disease in 1908 and Sarah died in Cardston, Alberta in 1925. They are buried together in the Mountain View Cemetery, Alberta, Canada.